GreenSync secures $10 million for decentralised energy rollout

April 5, 2019

Dr Phil Blythe, founder and CEO of GreenSync

Australian
energy technology company GreenSync has announced it has received $10
million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to
accelerate the national rollout of the world’s first Decentralised Energy
Exchange (deX).

deX is the digital marketplace that allows
electricity networks to better co-ordinate the increasing volume of distributed
energy resources (DER) in the electricity grid, while helping consumers get
more value from assets such as solar, batteries and electric vehicles.

To date, more than 100 organisations across 20 countries have partnered with deX, including major utilities, leading technology brands and industry bodies. Globally, deX has been contracted for major projects in Europe and Japan. The full $32 million deX platform will be scaled up in Australia through select partnership projects with Governments, networks and technology vendors over the next three years.

As
an open access software platform, deX enables transparent and localised
marketplaces to operate. Consumer owned devices – solar, smart appliances,
batteries and electric vehicles – that are registered with deX will be visible
to the network. These devices can then be contracted for grid services such as
supplying energy during peak demand, managing frequency or grid voltage, or
reducing network constraints.

A
technology agnostic platform, deX will be open to all technology providers,
networks and retailers. This creates opportunities for further innovation that
takes us towards a transactive grid where services from DER are valued,
participation increases and overall system efficiency and reliability are
maintained.

GreenSync
CEO Phil Blythe welcomed the support from ARENA, saying the team is incredibly
proud that Australian technology is paving the way for energy grid
transformation globally.

“deX
was developed as a practical solution in response to Australia’s energy
challenges today but it has become the new architecture for decentralised,
flexible energy grids of the future that will be powered, in the vast majority,
by renewables,” he said.

“This investment by ARENA is a major endorsement for deX and Australian clean-tech innovation. It’s an exciting step in unlocking extra value for energy asset owners while helping manage stability during this period of massive energy transformation.”

ARENA
CEO Darren Miller said that deX has the potential to be a key pathway for
ensuring DER can be integrated into the grid, and would play a role in
transforming Australia’s electricity market into a two-way, decentralised
modern grid.

“Studies
indicate that virtual power plants could account for 700 MW of capacity by 2022
and consumer-owned distributed energy could account for up to 45 per cent of all
generation within two decades,” Mr Miller said.

“In
a rapidly evolving energy market and growth in consumer energy, GreenSync
through their deX platform is addressing vital issues with DER including
physical integration and visibility with the grid, ensuring network limits are
considered when dispatching, and achieving financial market integration to
ensure value is maximised for consumers that own DER.”
“The deX platform is an
exciting project for ARENA in that this project was initially developed at an
A-Lab session in consultation with energy companies, was piloted and is now in
the final stages of being rolled out as a commercial product that could change
the way energy is bought and sold in the future.”